Wednesday, February 06, 2013

Featured Indie Book: Killer Pappas (Harry Rice)

"A wonderful book about the coming of age of a young man, Zack, from a very troubled family. His travels through high school and adulthood are sad yet hopeful in a very positive fulfilling way. Zack manages to overcome a difficult father and passive mother to gain an understanding of himself and the world around him through the sport of Boxing and an odd group of friends and family." - Reader Review

The Book has been self-published via Amazon and CreateSpace and is available as eBook and Paperback – 180 pages - released in October 2012.

About the Book

Zack Pappas, a personable, popular, and intelligent high school student, living in the shadow of a revered, athletically talented, older brother, has his academic success and political ambitions promoted by a controlling mother, Felicity, while he is emotionally degraded by Cyrus, his cruel, insensitive father.

While defending his mother, Zack commits an act of violence, which sets in motion a series of events resulting in his expulsion from high school and a long-enduring sense of guilt. His hopes for either an academic or political career are damaged, but Zack, with the help of his uncle, Hector, and over the opposition of his mother, takes advantage of an unusual physical attribute which determines his decision to pursue a career in boxing.

He becomes an outstanding success and sets out on a journey of self-discovery involving physical, emotional, and, with advice and help of Ping Yang, a wise and trusted counselor, spiritual growth.

Click to Read an Excerpt

Reviews (Excerpts)

- “Harry Rice's, Killer Pappas is filled with interesting characters, surprising plot turns, and inquiries into the way we live our lives. Rice throws together difficult parents, competitive siblings,an uncle with a secret, a reversal of the Oedipus myth, a Buddhist mentor for its title character,boxing,Bridge(the card game),a search for self-understanding, questions about the very existence of a self,and issues of sexual identity. Anything can happen in this page-turner. Just when you think you know where the author is going,the plot takes another twist. A good read. ” - BillPro

- “Harry Rice scores a knockout with Killer Pappas, a coming of age story that deftly balances physical, emotional and spiritual themes. The thrilling descriptions of Zack's rise to boxing prowess, fueled by his inner turmoil, are very nicely juxtaposed with the calm teachings of his spiritual advisor, Ping Yang. A fast and engaging read, this novel packs as much punch as one of its protagonist's straight jabs to the solar plexus. ” - Jim McCabe

- “Harry Rice's Killer Pappas is filled with so many surprises that it is difficult to put this book down as you are always wondering what will be happening on the next page. Harry Rice has created characters that are difficult to forget. The many twists and turns in this book make it an exciting and suspensful MUST READ book !! ” - Lisalicd

About the Author

Author Harry Rice

Harry Rice's higher education started at Columbia College in 1949 and ended at Teachers College, four blocks away, in 1968. He taught at the junior-high-school level for six years and at Queens College for thirty-four years. His specialties were teaching social studies, and teaching others to teach social studies better. His doctoral dissertation, not widely read, is titled Henry B. Stanton as a Political Abolitionist (University Microfilms, 1968). He switched from nonfiction to fiction to reach more readers following his retirement in 2002. Killer Pappas, his only novel, seems to have come out of nowhere, but alas, here it is.

Harry (nickname: harirama) likes the three B's: bridge, boxing, and baseball (particularly the St. Louis Cardinals), the theatre, movies, philosophy, psychology, reading, writing, zen, and advaita vedanta. His mantra is: "smile, laugh, joke a lot." He likes cats and dogs a lot and people somewhat.

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